news Members of the Dakota Resource Council are hoping a picture will help make Theodore Roosevelt National Park last longer — a lot longer.
The DRC, a Dickinson-based environmental organization, has launched a photo petition designed to raise awareness in helping to protect North Dakota’s only national...
Dickinson, 58602

Dickinson North Dakota 1815 1st Street West 58602

2013-11-02 20:59:09

Members of the Dakota Resource Council are hoping a picture will help make Theodore Roosevelt National Park last longer — a lot longer.

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The DRC, a Dickinson-based environmental organization, has launched a photo petition designed to raise awareness in helping to protect North Dakota’s only national park. The effort kicked off last Sunday on what would have been Roosevelt’s birthday and is slated to continue through Nov. 10.

“What we’re trying to do is get people to take pictures of themselves or with groups and email those pictures to us or put them on social media,” DRC senior field organizer Scott Skokos said. “The idea is to send these photo petitions to decision-makers, such as Gov. Jack Dalrymple or the Secretary of the Department of the Interior. We want to influence these decision-makers to show support, helping to protect the viewshed of the park.”

Sometime on Nov. 10 — a date that will mark the 35th anniversary of the park being designated a national park — a complete portfolio of submitted photos will be sent to a short list of policy makers, said Skokos.

“People across North Dakota, and beyond, support the national park here,” Skokos said. “We want to give the decision-makers that visual, which is a little different than a standard petition with just signatures. This has a face associated with it.”

Along with added jobs and a significant boost to North Dakota’s economy and state coffers, the state’s latest oil boom in the Bakken region has also brought questions and controversy about conservation-related issues.

In March, The Press reported that ExxonMobil subsidiary XTO Energy Inc. had staked out a site and planned to drill for oil at a location about 100 feet from the historic Elkhorn Ranch, a plot of land that is part of TRNP and is the site of the foundation of the cabin where Roosevelt once lived as a young man before becoming America’s 26th president.

Due partly to a public backlash, XTO eventually altered its plans and last month was approved by the North Dakota Industrial Commission to combine pad locations and drill at a site about 2 miles from the Elkhorn Ranch site, reportedly far enough away as to not disturb the area’s experience for visitors.

Also last month, North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem said he has spent time meeting with people and hopes to have a newly complied list of “extraordinary places” in the state that would be ready for debate at the Nov. 18 Industrial Commission meeting in Bismarck. The protected sites would likely be off-limits for energy developers.

In a statement sent to The Press on Friday, XTO spokesperson Emily Snooks stated that her company is committed to developing energy resources in North Dakota while avoiding “surface disturbances” as much as possible.

“We are pleased that the (Industrial Commission) approved XTO’s application to combine two units, resulting in additional options for well locations,” Snooks stated. “We believe that the new spacing unit configuration addresses concerns previously raised by park officials. Separately, XTO has been in negotiations with another operator to utilize an existing well pad located off of federal lands. Pending approval, this will allow us to develop the resources while reducing the footprint of our drilling operations.”

DRC executive director and Minot native Don Morrison said his organization has never been against energy development in North Dakota, but it does have an interest in helping ensure such development and exploration occurs in a conservation-friendly fashion.

“There are a whole host of reasons why we set aside places like Theodore Roosevelt National Park for recreation and to preserve part of our landscape where we live,” Morrison said. “It’s critically important and that’s the reason why it has been set aside. Part of what we’re saying is, if there’s oil development all around it, then that kind of defeats the purpose of having the national park. We want to preserve (Theodore Roosevelt National Park) and make sure it’s a place people want to visit.”

Though pump jacks and other oil and gas exploration infrastructure is clearly visible from certain areas in both the North and South Units of Theodore Roosevelt National Park, Morrison said it isn’t too late to attempt to protect many areas park and the western North Dakota Badlands.

“People drill in national parks and other parks,” Morrison said. “It’s not concrete that there wouldn’t ever be drilling within the park. Most people think that, but it’s not true.

“I don’t think we can take anything for granted unless the people who live here say ‘Hey, we really want to protect that.’ That’s what will make sure areas are protected. Otherwise, it may or may not be. It’s not too late to do something.”

A Wisconsin native, Horwath has been covering news in the Oil Patch of North Dakota since 2012. Horwath currently serves as the senior agriculture and political reporter for The Dickinson Press and, despite the team's tendency to always let him down, remains a diehard Minnesota Vikings fan.